100 Followers Milestone — An Appreciation Post!
And why I am still not eligible to earn money directly through Medium
Hi, my fellow readers, followers, and all of the incredible community across this great platform!
I am stupendously stoked to surpass 100 followers here, and I absolutely could not have achieved this feat without you all! The thoughtful responses, claps, and sheer love that I have received on my posts over the past few months have been, quite frankly, baffling for me to digest.
But as it rings true with each of our lives, great bits of news often arrive trailed by grave pieces of reality behind. Eventually, I found that I would be unable to earn even a single penny through the Medium Partner Program (MPP) after well-surpassing one-hundred followers. How and why such reality entailed, and how this could help you in your own journey upon this platform, is what I would elate further in this post.
For ease, I will be parting my inscription into distinct sections. Do feel free to skip or read whichever parts appeal to your individual minds, and indulge in them as per choice.
- My Journey (How I gained my first 100 followers)
- My Learnings (What I gained along the way)
- My Reality (Why I am not eligible for MPP)
- My Future (Deciding on what’s next)
Let me begin with the first section:
My Journey
When I first started on this platform, I started like any other;
0 Stories, 0 Followers, 0 Email Subscribers.
The thought of reaching a massive-seeming 100 followers even before a shred of earnings could get through felt monumental and outright impossible to me. Within no time, even before I published the first-ever story here, my recommendations flooded with “100 Followers in one day!” click-bait titles with ever so little to offer. I realized that my mind was deviously shifting towards a dangerous realm, a realm that could cause horrendous death to my very soul of creativity.
“Why did I come here?” I interrogated myself distinctively. “To simply chase followers mindlessly? Or to write, influence, and get my work out for the audience to reflect upon, maybe turn the world a better place one piece of writing at a time?”
The answer was clear as day.
So, I focused on what I should always be focusing on, writing. I poured my heart out and posted my first ever story here, and voila! I gained 2–3 followers pretty soon as a result, plus a couple of claps and a rare personal response. It may not seem like much, but my encouragement then had soared through the heavens!
Within the next research-filled days, another great understanding daunted me. Medium is not just best catered for writers, but rather for readers too! Instantly, I grew searching for relevant topics, posts, and people, leaving comments and claps behind to authors, following them, nudging them to peek at a few words of my own work, leading them to check my presence on this platform.
While I am still searching and researching several publications to which I can submit my work, this follow-to-appreciate strategy has done literal wonders to exponentially increase my follower count. Moreover, not only does this feel more organic to me for gaining valuable readers if compared to the traditional follow-to-follow approach, but it also allows Medium to cater better articles and stories to one’s recommendations which can further inspire one to write even more!
My Learnings
Below I have put forth several crucial findings throughout this hundred-follower journey:
- Have realistic expectations — Neither I thought of gaining followers only by posting a single story, nor I published 100 stories to increase my sole readership. My aim was to gradually find new eyes upon my work, regardless of how bad or good my story was performing. That has always been the first and foremost goal here.
- Quality over Quantity — I have followed this relentlessly to a fault, and plan to follow it till the end of time. While the algorithm of this place tends to favor frequently published stories, if the quality is subpar and the attention-grabbing quotient isn’t high enough to wander over the first few clickbait words, then I have seen examples of writers having over 1k followers, but a mere 100 claps.
- Write to the best of your ability — No matter how good or bad others may think, I always focus on scripting down my thoughts in the best manner I possibly can. This way I have zero regrets, and even if the story is underperforming, I lay in solace with the fact that I gave absolutely everything in it.
- Invite feedback and criticism — Sure, I may have used the best possible collection of words to portray my vivid concepts, but I also tend to ask my fellow readership for exclusive feedback. Because if writers aren’t constantly improving and learning, they cannot possibly be performing at their level best.
- Do not be afraid! — “Just publish it already!” my mind has to scream often because only then do I understand that, even when it seems quite scary, it is necessary for me to grow. I always regard this as my first stride in a long marathon. And it is impossible for me to finish without actually beginning in the first place.
My Reality
“Finally!”
I exclaimed with enthrallment, witnessing the follower count eke to 101.
“Let’s start earning!”
For some odd reason, I was naïve enough to think that money will start flowing effortlessly soon after.
Alas! On the registration page of the Partner Program, I came across a crucial bit of information that I, unfortunately, overlooked up till then, in the section named “Eligible Countries”.
As it currently stands, my home country India does not fall under the eligibility criteria (even after possessing a significantly large reader base of this platform). And due to this regrettable ordeal, I cannot earn any money directly through Medium.
My incredible talent for neglecting crucial bits of information was at its prime here. I had never felt more foolish in my entire life! Perhaps, I hope my stupidity and naivety could become somewhat useful to my readers now.
For all those who are just starting out on this platform, please make sure to carefully check out the eligibility of your country for MPP.
My future
Ergo, my vivid dream of earning money purely through the skill of writing still remains a dream. But in times like these, crucial questions tend to storm off in one’s head.
“Why did I ever start writing?”
- For mental peace
- For influencing and possibly helping others
- For making the world a better and more thoughtful place
- For portraying my inner-most imaginings and ideas to the world
- For leaving behind a legacy long-surpassing my mortal life
And it was not until the 7th or 8th attempt while scripting the answer down, I reached, “For making a living by doing what I love.”
I realized that money has never (ever) been a priority for me when it comes to writing. The grand aim is for my words to reach and influence millions and billions of readers around the world. I know that it is surreal and could be outright impossible, but I am crazy enough to believe that I can, one day (Inshallah!), achieve such a preposterous feat.
While I publish intricate articles and short stories on this platform, my long-term goal has always been to become a well-respected and well-published author, for which I have been devoting years to perfecting and sculpting my first-ever novel (hopefully the first of many!), a rather thought-provoking science-fiction fantasy at its core, something quite rare for writers to indulge in my country.
Sci-fi has truly been my first love when it comes to powerful storytelling. And contributing to this soulful genre is one of my greatest goals to reach.
I am well aware that publishing a full-fledged novel takes incredible patience and time to achieve, especially when you are not known as a writer. It is the reason why I resorted to Medium, so I can put forth my writings to the world and possibly make a buck in the process.
Now, the universe had different plans on that front. But a problem always possesses multiple ways to reach its resolution.
Through the powers of “researching”, I came across one beautiful platform Ko-fi where creators of every creed rely on for support. After much contemplation, I have set up my own profile upon it too in hopes of finding the much-needed and like-minded support.
Conclusion
Well, I may never know what the future actually holds, but I do know that I will never stop trying to achieve my own hopes and dreams no matter what the hardships arise. Wherever luck fails, persistence and perseverance never fail to carve a way.
When your destination is the end, not giving up is merely the beginning.
Once again, I thank you all from the depths of my heart! The community here is staggeringly encouraging and helpful, just the kind a budding writer truly needs. Feel free to head to my Ko-fi page in order to support my writing and buy me a coffee!
https://ko-fi.com/haroon_qureshi
Regardless of whichever way you choose to support me, I would always immensely cherish it all. Each form of appreciation means a ton! And if you have any particular criticism or feedback with respect to any of my previously published stories here, I would be glad to know how much I can improve.
Below are all of my stories until now:
Do let me know which one was your favorite :)
In the end, I wish for you all to stay safe and have a great day ahead.
See you in the next post!
